Jon Schmidt Shares How to Avoid Making Wonderful Things Invisible
Contributed By Valerie Johnson, Church News staff writer
Jon Schmidt performs during an LDS Business College devotional in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square on March 26, 2019.
Article Highlights
- Believe in Jesus Christ and that He is there to help you.
- Use Christ for your support.
- Don’t hide from Christ in the moment of temptation.
“If we turn to [Jesus Christ] in that moment, the moment of temptation, and bring Him into it with us instead of hiding from Him, instead of suffering it ourselves, … we can give it to Him, and He will bear it.” —Michelle Schmidt
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SALT LAKE CITY
There is a disease that all men and women suffer from. It affects one’s vision and makes “wonderful things invisible.”
Pianist Jon Schmidt of the Piano Guys named this disease: “the natural man.”
In a devotional address to LDS Business College students and staff in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square on Tuesday, March 26, Jon Schmidt and his wife, Michelle Schmidt, spoke on ways to prevent “the natural man” from affecting one’s spiritual vision.
For Jon Schmidt, an example of wonderful things becoming invisible is how Joseph Smith is sometimes perceived. “When I think about it, I think of all the amazing things that have been said in history. … How many of them were said by somebody in their college age or early 20s?”
Schmidt shared some quotes from Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon that he has saved under a tab in the Gospel Library app he’s labeled “What 20-year-old says this stuff?”
“We should be reading that and thinking, ‘Wow!’ But we kind of get used to it, don’t we?” he said. “And wonderful things become invisible.”
One of these things is general conference. Finding himself bored of general conference is an “epic lack of vision and, to me, shows that I need the Lord,” he said.
So, how does one battle the tendency to make wonderful things invisible?
Schmidt gave three suggestions.
First, one must believe he or she has a personal assistant.
He explained that the word succor means to give assistance or support in times of distress. “So, Jesus Christ is our personal assistant,” he said. “Believe in our personal assistant.”
Second, “use our personal assistant for all our support.”
Before the Piano Guys write any music, or whenever they come to a problem, they take inspiration not from a musician but from painter Minerva Teichert. Teichert “never picked up a paintbrush without first saying a prayer, and whenever she came to a problem in her painting, she would pray,” Schmidt said.
So the first step the Piano Guys take is to pray.
“We are four priesthood brethren that have consecrated what we do to the Lord, and we feel His help,” Schmidt said.
He testified of the truth of a statement from Alma 37:36: “Cry unto God for all thy support.”
“I want to just leave that message with you today, to cry unto God for all your support. You can involve Him in everything you do,” Schmidt said.
Third, avoid the classic blunder to hide from Christ in the minute of temptation.
“How many of us hide from our personal assistant when we need Him the most?” Schmidt asked.
Michelle Schmidt expanded on this last point in her remarks, sharing an example of when she had hidden from Christ.
While attending the University of Utah, Michelle Schmidt attended parties so she could meet new people. At the first one she went to, the Spirit gave her the impression that it wasn’t a good place to be. But thinking that this was the only way to meet new people, she continued going to these parties. At each one, the feelings of the Spirit grew fainter until she couldn’t feel them at all.
“The reason why I did that was because I didn’t trust. I didn’t have enough trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that they had a better way,” she said.
Jesus Christ is the sin bearer who is given the responsibility and stewardship to carry everyone’s sins, Michelle Schmidt said. “If we turn to Him in that moment, the moment of temptation, and bring Him into it with us instead of hiding from Him, instead of suffering it ourselves, … we can give it to Him, and He will bear it.”
Sometimes people don't want to burden Jesus Christ with their sins. However, she said, “that is a classic blunder, because that is His calling—to be in our lives and to carry us and to take away our sin,” she said.
Turning to God in all things and giving sin to Jesus Christ create bonding experiences, Jon Schmidt said.
“Every temptation can become a bonding moment if we don’t fall in the classic blunder,” he said. “Every problem can become a bonding moment if we turn to Him and cry to Him for all our support.”
Following the couple’s remarks, Jon Schmidt performed his piano composition titled “Christmas Morning” and his piano arrangement of “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman.
Michelle and Jon Schmidt greet LDS Business College students as they enter the Assembly Hall on Temple Square on March 26, 2019. Photo by Valerie Johnson, Church News.
Michelle Schmidt speaks during an LDS Business College devotional in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square on March 26, 2019. Photo by Valerie Johnson, Church News.
